AN: I do not own Code Geass

Chapter 12: Feelings

The school bell rang, signalling the end of class, and the beginning of lunch for Ashford Academy. It had been two days since the announcement of Villetta and the new teachers joining the staff.

Apparently, they were only temporary replacements for the next three months, as their respective teachers went on a paid vacation. Villetta took the place of a PE teacher, subsequently taking their place as the head-coach of the swim team. Casmir took the place of a science teacher. While Lewis took the place of a math teacher.

Perhaps the strangest part of it all, was that they weren't bad at their jobs, in fact, they did them perfectly… almost too perfectly, which obviously didn't sit right with some students, as the trio were extremely strict.

"God, Ms Villetta is such a pain," Kallen muttered while leaning on a rooftop railing

"I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks so," Lelouch added while lying on the ground, breathing in and out heavily.

During PE, the substitute paid special attention to both the red head and the Prince, making sure they weren't out of her sight for a second. First, she questioned Kallen on her sudden increase in physical activity, but when Kallen told her about the medication she was taking, Villetta only seemed to push for more information, which eventually led to the red head running multiple laps around the field when she refused to answer.

Lelouch on the other hand, had it way worse, as he was forced to run countless laps until he could finally get one under 8 minutes, which he never accomplished.

"I knew soldiers could be cruel, but I didn't think it'd be this bad," the Prince commented while Kallen handed him a bottle of water, which he promptly took a sip of.

"Do you really think she's a spy?" the red head asked in a hushed tone while taking a seat next to him.

"Without a shadow of a doubt. She's definitely the same woman who fought Naoto before."

"I thought you said he shot her?"

"He did, but evidently, she lived." Lelouch then pulled out his phone, "Not only that, but Casmir has been peeking around the science club; I think he's onto their pink foam experiment. If he finds out the foam is from them, then we're truly screwed. Luckily, Mr. Burns has been keeping him away well enough, after all, he's the teacher that supervises them. Then there's Lewis; he's been looking into the computer science club, who I had team up with the science club to create my jailbreak USB; I gave them a good enough reason as to why I'd need it, but I don't think the teacher'll believe it."

"I'm guessing this also means we can't meet with brother anytime soon, right?" Kallen asked as Lelouch scrolled through his contacts.

"Correct. In fact, I wouldn't even feel safe contacting him, as they might've tapped into the nearby cell towers, so we're on our own when dealing with this problem." he then landed on Milly's name, and dialed it.

After a few rings, she finally answered, "Oh my~ is something special happening today? You never call me!"

"Yeah, yeah, I just wanted to ask about the Masquerade event we're holding on Halloween, is it still on?" Lelouch replied, ignoring her provocation

"Of course, why wouldn't it be? Why do you want to know?"
"I just wanted to know, after all, I still have to prepare a mask."

In the original timeline, this would've been when the Cross-Dressers Ball took place, but thanks to Kallen's… intervention, a different event was chosen, and this time, it was a Masquerade Ball, which is where all the participants wear special masks to hide their identity. Other than that, it's pretty much just a normal party, fit with music and dancing.

"Oh? So you're going to participate willingly? Why the change?"

"Because you'd just force me to go anyway, then I'd be forced to wear whatever embarrassing mask you picked out."

"Oh come on! No one would know it's you! That's the whole point of the mask!"

Suddenly, the door to the roof opened, and out came Coach Villetta, with a scowl plastered on her face, "Sorry Milly, but I've got to go," Lelouch said while hanging up the phone just as the teacher got within earshot.

"What're you two doing up here? You know it's forbidden for students to be up on the roofs, right?" Ms. Nu started, "You'd better get out of here, or else."
While it was against the rules, the teachers never enforced it, as they trusted the students to not do anything stupid, of course… Villetta was different. "Sorry about that, we'll get off the roof right away," Kallen replied, and despite her gentle smile on the outside, she was cursing the dictator on the inside.

"Not yet." the teacher commanded

"Make up your mind!" the students thought simultaneously

"What were you two doing up here?"

"Eating lunch," Lelouch responded while holding up a water bottle, "We finished a while ago, but decided to hang out on the roof a bit longer"

"Oh really? Why the roof?"

See, it's these kinds of questions that had Kallen in a bind earlier. Because, if Lelouch simply answers, "Oh it was nice out", then Villetta would simply respond, "Well, why not the track field? It's just as nice." and if Kallen responds, "Well, it's kind of crowded," then the coach will say, "Then why not the student council room?" and the questions would go on and on until either Kallen or Lelouch get fed up, or until the bell rings, wasting everyone's time.

So, in order to get out of this bind, they have to give a definitive answer, that couldn't be followed up by continuous questions, and for Kallen, only one response came to mind. "Damn that Naoto. The reason why Villetta's hounding both me and Kallen, is because of those pictures! Currently, we have no way that'll simultaneously get her off our backs right now, and permanently take us off the list of suspects. Anything we do, will just look suspicious to Villeta!" Lelouch thought while the red head gave him a side-eye

"I'm sorry about this, Lelouch, but this is all I can think of." Kallen thought while reaching for his arm, and pulled him close, "We… were on a… date" she struggled to get the words out, but she eventually did it.

Villetta's eyes narrowed, and she looked at Lelouch, who stood limply with Kallen holding on to his arms. The boy, however, was currently running through thousands of scenario's in his head, and eventually, "y… yeah, we were on a date…" he agreed while grabbing onto the red head's arm.

Throughout the scenario's he ran, every scenario ended with Villetta just continuously asking monotonous questions that would've ended up with her still on their back, however, this way… "You do know relationships are forbidden in school, right?" the coach followed up

Again, this was another one of those rules that weren't enforced by the teachers, in fact, student relationships were actually encouraged by the student council president, who was always on the lookout for the next couple to tease. Of course, Villetta was different, but Lelouch already predicted this outcome, "That's why we were on the roof, it was so we would have some… privacy," he responded with a red face.

As embarrassing as this situation was for him, it had a huge payoff, as Kallen and Lelouch were notorious for sneaking off in the middle of the day, of course, rumors eventually circulated of the two secretly dating. This was in fact false, as all they were doing was meeting up with Naoto, and making plans on repairing the heavily damaged Glasgow, which they recently managed to acquire a cockpit for.

Of course, Villetta didn't know that. Within her first two days of attending school, she's probably heard tons of gossip from the students, and eventually came across the rumors of Lelouch and Kallen. Given the fact that she saw both of them on the camera Naoto dropped from before, that obviously piqued her interest even more, but now that there was 'confirmation' of the two dating, it would throw her off their trail… hopefully…

"There's still the possibility of them being terrorists, but even that seems to be growing slimmer and slimmer as time goes on. Very well, I'll let them off the hook now, it's clear that I won't be getting anything out of them anytime soon, besides, my efforts are much more suited to be aiding Mr. Wilson now. After all, he told me he might have a lead on the contraption that was used to jailbreak that Glasgow a few months ago. I suppose we'll have to thank the Special Corp that information…"

After the fight with Naoto, Lloyd Asplund, head researcher of the Camelot organization that specializes in Knightmare Development, was put in charge of finding out how they started the abandoned Glasgow. According to his findings, an amateurish program was used to override the Knightmare's activation code, and get it moving. That's the main reason why Lewis Wilson is here.

As a part of the Camelot research division himself, Lewis was the perfect person to find, recognize, and retrieve such a program should he come in contact with it. Casmir on the other hand, was here to make a good impression on the students, making sure they trust him enough to tell them any secrets they may be hiding.

Villetta pulled out her phone and checked the time, "The bells about to ring, so you better get to class. But know this: if I see you two back up on this roof, there will be consequences. This is a warning." she sternly told the students.

Lelouch and Kallen nodded furiously, and headed off the room arm-in-arm, "That was close…" the boy muttered as they reached the bottom of the stairs, out of the coaches hearing range.

"Sorry about that…" Kallen apologized while letting go of his arm

"Don't be. I honestly couldn't see a way out of that situation without increasing her suspicion of us." he then turned to the red head, who was lightly blushing, "Though, I suppose now we should be hanging out regularly."

Kallen nodded in agreement, "I suppose that's not so bad, after all, we don't have to explain why we're together anymore, right?"

"I suppose…" the raven-haired boy then began walking down the empty hallway. The bell hasn't rung yet, so it still should be relatively empty, except for a few teachers who're eating lunch in their classrooms, but they're far too busy to be paying attention to passing conversations between students.

The Kozuki followed closely behind, and asked, "So, what's our plan?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," she grabbed his arm, and pulled him down to her level, "how're we going to deal with the teachers?"

Lelouch was a bit taken aback by this at first, but upon seeing Villetta out of the corner of his eye, he realized why she had taken such action, "Well, we'll have to take them on one at a time. Mr. Poole is currently in a bind with getting into the science club thanks to Mr. Burns, and Villetta's been thrown off our trail for now."
"So the only logical option is Mr. Wilson?"

"Correct. From what I've heard, he's absurdly close to finding out the code that was used to jail breaking the Glasgow, after all, the teacher he's substituting for isn't here to protect the computer science club from his investigation."

"Why didn't you tell the club to delete the code before?" Kallen questioned as Villetta walked down another pair of stairs, leaving their sight.

"Because, we could still use it, and I would've liked a backup in case I lost the first one. But now, things have changed, and we need to get rid of the original ASAP." Lelouch responded while slowly leaving her grip.

"But how're we going to do that?" Kallen asked, pulling him back down.

"We'll poison him."

Whoa, and Naoto thinks Kallen's a psychopath.

The red head gave the boy a confused look, so he elaborated, "Relax, we're not going to kill him, that would bring too much attention to Ashford. No, what we're going to do is simply incapacitate him for a week."

"Just a week?"

"Of course, all we need to do is take him out long enough for the computer science club to delete the program." Lelouch answered, "And to do that… we'll need some help." he then opened a classroom door where two black-haired students stood by a window. "I'm glad you could come."

The first to respond was a boy, "Well, it wasn't easy as Henry nearly talked our ears off about how great your… present was."

The second, was a girl, "Still, you're sure this'll work?"

"Without a doubt."

Kallen looked at the two students, then back at Lelouch, "Are these two from the computer science club?"

Lelouch looked at her and said, "Well, as you know, not all students like the new teachers, especially Ms. Nu and Mr. Wilson; as one is too strict with the rules, and the other is a diva when it comes to club activities."

"Getting rid of one of them will greatly relieve some pressure from the students," the black haired boy added, "They'll be extremely grateful, and are extremely willing to cooperate if it means getting rid of them."

"But… that didn't answer my question…"

Suddenly, the black-haired girl approached her, "Well, I'm a part of the computer science club, my brother on the other hand is a good for nothing that hasn't joined a club yet"

"Finally, someone who answers questions around here. What's your name?" Kallen asked

"Me? I'm Maya Disel, it's nice to meet you!" she vigorously shook the red head's hand, before pointing at the other boy, "And that's my brother, Mario Disel.

Her brother facepalmed, "There you go, getting too friendly once again…"

"Oh come on! We should at least get to know who we're working with!" Maya argued

Lelouch then stepped in and said, "Let's try to stay on topic, yes? Now, allow me to explain the plan…"


The school bell rang, signaling the beginning of Kallen and Lelouch's next class: Science.

As they sat down in the classroom, they noticed several vials, and a microscope sitting in front of them, "Hey Kallen," Shirley greeted the red head as she sat down, "Looks like we're doing something exciting today!"

"Yeah, I wonder what Mr. Burns has planned," the red head responded with a smile

Generally, there are the teachers that students hate, and then there were those they loved; Mr. Burns, was one of those teachers that no one could hate, after all, he was very passionate about science, and loved teaching it to his students. If someone struggled in class, he would try to help them through their struggle the best he could, while simultaneously allowing the student to figure out what was wrong. In short, everyone loved Mr. Burns, however, the man who walked through the door next, wasn't the teacher they all knew and loved.
"Gooooood evening class," Mr. Poole announced

"What's going on?" Lelouch thought while narrowing his eyes at the Hawaiian dressed man

"Oh? Where's my best buddy? I thought for sure he'd be here…" the new teacher said while scanning the classroom.

Clearly, he wasn't there for Mr. Burns.

Casmir ran his fingers across several desks, until he reached Lelouch's, where he grabbed the microscope and commented, "Ah, so this is what he's having you do, huh? That's no fun… y'know, I really don't understand why he's so renowned as a teacher around here, I mean, the guy barely even talks to me! And when we do talk, he's always so hostile!"

Perhaps, in his own way, Mr. Burns could see through Mr. Poole's facade, and instinctively wanted to keep his students safe from this alien threat.

"Well, Mr. Burns is pretty cool most of the time," Rivalz replied, "I don't know why he'd be so mean to you"

"What!?" Casmir exclaimed, "I'm cool too guys!" he then pulled out a pair of shades from his pants pockets, and put them on, "See? I'm cool!"

No one laughed, instead, the room fell into an uncomfortable silence.

Suddenly, the booming voice of Mr. Burns called out, "Mr. Poole. I thought I told you I wouldn't tolerate you harassing my students any longer."

"Oh, come on, Mr. Burns! Chill out, it really seems like you need a vacation"

Clearly, there was an underlying conversation going on here, one that the students couldn't decipher without further context.

"I'll have you know, I don't need a vacation, as I'm perfectly content with coming in every day, and teaching my students the wonders of science. However, I cannot say you have the same motivations, especially with the way you dress and act."

It was true. While comparing the two, you couldn't tell Casmir was a teacher with how he was dressed, whereas Mr. Burns almost always dressed professionally, wearing a brown suit with no tie; of course, there were exceptions, such as the time they raced their model cars on the special track he built, where instead of his suit, he wore a racing outfit.

"See? You don't always have to be so uptight!"

"Leave. Now." Mr. Burns replied in a tone that scared every student in the room; clearly, he could command a room when he wanted to.

Despite this, Mr. Poole's, if only for a split second, exhibited a scary aura that almost matched Mr. Burns, however, it disappeared in the next, "You know, an old geezer like you should learn when to take a break"

"Well, this old geezer's still got something to teach whipper-snappers like you. Now leave."

Casmir left the classroom in a huff, but not before getting in Mr. Burn's face as an act of intimidation; and when the old man didn't budge, Mr. Poole left the class, and entered the one across from theirs.

"What was that!?" Rivalz exclaimed, shouting what everyone was thinking.

The teacher calmly placed his clipboard on his podium and said, "That was nothing, just an old soldier talking to someone who's never been taught in discipline."

"An old soldier? We had a teacher like that in school?" Lelouch thought, "Interesting… so that's why he's so hostile to Casmir…"

"It's because he knows who Mr. Poole is!" Kallen added in her own thoughts, "He's trying to protect his students from the prodding of the military!"

"Evidently, they tried to get Mr. Burns to take a three-month break so they could operate, however, he refused, and that's why they're so hostile to each other."

"Which means…"

The two glanced at each other, and thought simultaneously, "He'll be able to help us!"


The final bell rang, signaling the end of the school day, which was relatively easy for the secret rebels if you exclude their encounter with Coach Villetta earlier. There was just one more thing…

Lelouch turned to his neighbor and said, "Kallen, let's go to your house"

Shirley, who just barely overheard the proposal, blushed, "No way… did he just…"

"Alright. Will you be staying over?"

"Staying over!?"

"Yes." the raven-haired boy responded

"What!?" currently, the poor girl's thoughts seemed to be rushing a million miles a minute, "Why Lelouch and Kallen sleeping in the same room!?"

There was nothing said about them sleeping together.

"Wait… the way he said that, has he been there before!?"

No, he hasn't.

"And to think… I only just initiated my challenge a few days ago…" tears began to well in her eyes, "But… it took so much out of me to do it… is that why Kallen accepted my challenge? Because she had already won him over?"

The two students then got up, and began to pack their things, then Shirley looked up, and saw both of them laughing like a happy couple; of course, this was all a figment of her imagination.

Was she becoming delusional from the heartbreak?

Regardless, the 'couple' left the class together, and headed toward the school's front entrance, leaving behind a heartbroken and confused Shirley Fenette.

Meanwhile, Lelouch and Kallen strode down the hallway normally, before the red head soon grabbed the boy's arm, pulling him close to her chest, brushing across her cleavage, to which the Prince blushed upon feeling, "What are you doing?" he muttered

"Don't you remember? Ms. Villetta guards the front gate after school, and we told her we were dating, so we have to act like a couple." Kallen replied while blushing herself

"I know that, but why do you have to do this now?" he asked, referring to the surrounding audience of students, who looked on while speaking in low voices.

Of course, their 'relationship' was supposed to be a secret, after all, Lelouch did say the reason they were on the roof was for privacy, indicating that they wanted to keep their 'relationship', a secret. However, that wasn't why Kallen was doing this. No. It was for a different reason, one that was much more selfish.

"Rumors need to spread, that way, Villetta won't be able to question the legitimacy of our relationship," the red head lied.

"There were already rumors," Lelouch argued in a hushed tone.

They were now outside, and within their enemies hawk-like gaze. She was currently standing atop a crate with a megaphone and meter stick, then her eyes narrowed upon seeing the 'couple'. It was too late to back down now.

Kallen leaned onto Lelouch's arm with her eyes closed, "Alright. This should be good," she thought, "Now there's no way Lelouch will be able to take Maya to the dance."

The red head remembered back to their earlier conversation with the Disel siblings, where they went over the first stage of their plan for the masquerade party.


"So, you'll be taking my sister to the party, right?" Mario started

"Correct, her presence there is crucial for the plan to work," Lelouch answered

"Whoa, why're you taking her!?" Kallen exclaimed, "We're the ones who're supposed to be in a relationship here!"

It was a combination of logical thinking and jealousy, after all, there's no way Villetta would believe their relationship was real, if she saw Lelouch attending the party with another girl. Then there was the thought that the boy didn't want to attend the party with her; in truth, this was what really got her in a bind.

"Aw… don't worry Kallen, I won't steal him from you," Maya added with sincerity, though, to Kallen, it just sounded like teasing.

"If you want a real reason, it's because you stand out too much," the raven-haired boy finally answered

"How!?"

"Your hair."

"I'll wear a wig!"

"Then your personality."

"You know I can hide that!"

In truth, the reason why Lelouch didn't want to go with Kallen to the dance, was more… personal. You see, ever since Milly teased him about liking Kallen, he began to see her in a different light. Suddenly, her hair grew redder, she began to smell nicer, and most importantly, she began to just seem… more. Everything about her seemed to change, and Lelouch couldn't figure out why.

All he knows, is that if he goes to the dance with her, he won't be able to concentrate on the plan, instead, he'd just spend the entire event stealing glances at her in her dress from time-to-time. Even now, he could envision what kind of dress she'd wear; it'd be a shimmering red dress that would just barely reach her ankles, where she'd wear matching high heels. For her accessories, she'd wear a pearl necklace that further accentuate her beauty.

Lelouch shook his head internally, "No, I can't think about such things now. She isn't necessary to this mission" he then turned to the girl in question, "It's a masquerade party, there's no way Ms. Nu will recognize me, especially since I can blend into the crowd easily."

"What if Milly calls you out? She's sure to be there, and besides," she pulled down Lelouch's ear, and whispered, "Can you even trust them with poisoning so many guests?"

That part wasn't something Lelouch had told the siblings, as he figured it would've been something they'd agree to considering the certain… circumstances they're in. But now that Kallen brings it up, he's having second thoughts. Actually, the entire plan was starting to fall apart at the seems because of that point.

Could Lelouch trust them?

He knew he could trust Kallen for such a task, but if he chose her for this mission, then…

"Fine, change of plans." he answered after a short moment of thought, "Instead, this is what we'll do…"


"You can let go now," the Prince told his companion as they approached the Stadtfeld Manor

Kallen opened her eyes, and looked behind her, before finally untangling herself from Lelouch, "Alright, let's just hope the witch isn't home," she thought, referring to her step-mother.

Of course, that was the first person who greeted her upon entry, "Oh? So you're finally home. And here I thought you were gonna whore yourself off again tonight," a blonde woman greeted the two, "And what's this? It looks like you've brought one of them home."

Of call the things Kallen could change in the past, this wasn't one of them. Until she became a Black Knight, she would just have to deal with this insufferable woman for the coming months.

"Are you her mother?" Lelouch asked, already knowing the answer to the question, "You truly don't look that similar."

"Obviously. That's because little Kallen's a half-breed between a disgusting Eleven, and a proud Britannian." she then looked at a Japanese maid who meekly entered from the kitchen, "Honestly, she takes after her Eleven side a bit too much. What's your name, boy?"

"Alan Spacer."

Mrs. Stadtfeld's eyes narrowed, "Well, Mr. Spacer, I'd advise you find another woman to bear your heir, unless you want them infected with Eleven filth"

Kallen clenched her fist in anger, butt managed to contain her cursing within her mind, "So, this is the woman that's given her trauma?" Lelouch thought, "Naoto really wasn't exaggerating when he described her."

"I'll keep that in mind," he responded, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to cook you and Kallen a meal."

"Oh? So you can cook?"

Lelouch smiled internally, "Yes, it's my dream to become a fine-dining chef, and I would like you to taste one of my recipe's."

The Kozuki turned to the Prince, "Wait… you can't be serious-"

Kallen was then cut off by the boy, who said, "Kallen, go to your room, I'll bring you the dish after I'm done cooking it."


The red head reluctantly waited in her room for about an hour, before Lelouch entered, carrying a bowl of soup on a brown tray, "I've already given your step-mother a bowlful. She said it's delicious."

"You're insane, you know that, right? I thought you said you'd only use the poison on me," Kallen replied as he set the tray on a table.

Lelouch pulled out a vial of a clear, odorless substance that he put into the soup while prepping it. It was given to him by Maya, and was created by Henry Greer; the science club leader. He said upon consuming only a drop, you'd have stomach pain for the next few hours, and upon consuming two, you'd vomit and have stomach pain simultaneously. If you consumed three, then you'd be puking until blood came out only minutes after.

Currently, he only put on drop in the soup.

"Well, a bigger sample pool would be better after all, right?" he replied while taking a seat next to her on the bed, "Now, go. We've only got a limited time to build up your immunity."

Kallen shook internally, it scared her how casually he was saying these things; she wanted to change him, but she didn't know how. It seemed like she was only pushing him further and further toward becoming the cold and callus Zero she knew from before. "I want… some conditions," she proposed.

However, the boy expected as much and asked, "What are they?"

"You will spend the night… in my bed." the girl proposed while looking into the soup as it swirled around the bowl.

"Rejected."

Kallen took in a deep breath, and breathed out quickly, before picking up the bowl, downing the contents in one gulp, surprising Lelouch, but that wasn't all. Upon putting the bowl down, she grabbed the Prince's shoulder's and slammed him onto the bed, causing him to panic, then, she said in a cold voice, "You will. Or… I'll tell my brother you poisoned me."

It was almost instantaneous. Whatever Henry put in that bowl, it was strong, I mean, really strong. It was taking everything Kallen had to not keel over in pain.

"But… you agreed to it!" Lelouch protested, only to feel her grip tighten.

"He doesn't know that. And who do you think he'll believe? You…" she then leaned down, causing the Prince to turn his head in fear, however, she stopped just before his ear, and whispered, "Or me?"

This move was mostly just to reposition herself because of the amount of pain she was in, but Lelouch didn't need to know that.

"So what? In exchange for sleeping with you tonight, you won't tell your brother about our plan?"

"Correct."

"How do I know you'll keep your word?"

He felt Kallen leave his ear, allowing for him to look her in the eyes, however, what he saw shocked him.

The girl's eyes were strained red; she was in pain, a lot of pain, so for her to be speaking so clearly, was a miracle in of itself. Or was her will just that strong?

Regardless, she spoke once again, but this time, her tone was different. It was no longer teasing, or threatening, no, this time, it was… endearing, "Please… just trust me, like I trust you…"

Somehow, those words flipped a switch in the Prince's mind.

Trust.

It was something he hadn't had for anyone in years, even Naoto, who, for all he proved himself to be, wasn't somebody Lelouch could trust, as he was still as unpredictable as everyone else. For Lelouch to trust someone, he'd have to know they'd catch him if he'd fall. Would Kallen do that for him?

Before he could ask such a question, the red head suddenly fell limp on top of him, her head buried into his neck; he could now feel her warm, moist breath tickling his neck, causing a warm feeling to stir inside of him. "Kallen…" he whispered, only to get no response, so he shook her.

The girl was now out cold, and completely relaxed on top of him.

Should he stay?

What if the step-mother barges in here?

What if she told Naoto about this?

None of those question mattered now, as Lelouch slowly unveiled the covers from below them, and draping it over their bodies, leaving only their heads exposed. Then he shifted right, allowing for Kallen to slide off him, but not so much to the point she was out of reach, instead, he let her fall only until he could see her sleeping face.

She looked so peaceful. You honestly couldn't tell she lived in an abusive household if you looked at her like this, or… that she had been poisoned.

Lelouch slowly wrapped his arms around the girl, and pulled her close; now, he could feel the warmth of her body envelope his. It was… oddly comforting.

"No. I can't get distracted. I'll have time for this after everything's been seen through to the end," Lelouch thought while trying to push her away, however, he suddenly felt something sharp grab his back.

"Don't go…" the red head muttered while tightly gripping onto the boy's back, "Please don't go… Lelouch…"

Was she awake? No, she was definitely still asleep.

"A nightmare?" Lelouch muttered as Kallen's face contorted in pain, causing him to instinctively pat her head, just like he would do for Nunally while they were traversing the ruined Japan during the second pacific war. This seemed to work, as the red head's face relaxed, and a small smile formed.

Tomorrow was Saturday. They had two days to build up Kallen's immunity to this poison.

It was cruel, and Lelouch knew that, but it was something that had to be done… for their rebellion, she had to suffer.

His grip tightened around her gently, and he buried his face into her neck, "No wonder you've got problems," he whispered, "You're always getting pushed around, despite the strong front you put up. Your step-mother, your brother, and even myself, we all boss you around; and all you do is take it. I wonder why?" he then moved back, "Perhaps it's a trauma response?"

Kallen stirred gently, moving closer to the boy as he continued, "Kallen, I don't know what you've been through, but… if you'll allow it, I'll try to help you as best I can. That, is something I can definitely promise you."

With that, the two fell asleep in each other's arms, feeling their warmth increase as the night went on, and a new day began.